Now you can take a budget trip to Korea and enjoy all the sights, smells and sounds; without breaking the bank to get there!

Travelers of Japan will have heard tell of a mystical bargain ticket that, once purchased, will allow you five days of unlimited travel throughout any Japan Rail station in the country (on regular speed and rapid trains only, sorry Shinkansen fans). The JR Seishun 18 ticket is a great way to get out there and see the lesser-known sights of Japan at a price that won’t hurt your wallet: it famously costs just 2,370 (US$21.76) per day.

But what if your traveler’s heart yearns for sights beyond the country border? Well, if you live in Shimonoseki City in Yamaguchi prefecture, you’re in luck. By applying to the city’s Seishun 18 Ticket Support Campaign you can ride the Busan ferry for a substantial discount, so much that you essentially shave half the regular asking price off of a return ticket to Korea. That leaves you all the more money to spend on ice cream dinosaur eggs!

First thing’s first, though: you must reserve your ticket in advance. You can do this easily enough by calling up the ticket office and requesting use of the seishun juu-hachi kippu no ouen waribiki kyanpe-n. From there you just have to provide your name, date of birth and passport number: naturally, you need a passport for this trip!

Print your affiliated discount form and questionnaires and fill them out, then take them along to the ferry station during the designated Seishun 18 period. Our own Masanuki Sunakoma took all these steps and was soon well on his way to another country! He opted for a large “communal sleeping” room on the ferry, ordinarily priced at 9,000 yen for a one way ticket. With his discount, that single ticket became a drastically reduced 4,500 yen.

(Just a note at this point: the discount is explicitly only good from the Shimonoseki City port. You can purchase a return ticket with the discount, and even a single ticket; but you would need to buy a single from Busan port to Shimonoseki City at full price. You’re also expected to pay an additional 1,300 yen for use of the port facilities and fuel as of December 2018 – and an “International Traveler Tax” will be instituted from January 2019, meaning you’ll have to pay an extra 1,000 yen to leave Shimonoseki port. That’s considered its own separate expense, though.)

Whew! Okay, with all that money talk out of the way, it was time to get moving.

Masanuki aimed to head out from Shimonoseki at 7:45 p.m., for an arrival time in Busan at 8:00 a.m. the next morning. He’d be spending one night on board the boat, which made for its own adventure in itself.

The procedure for clearing security and boarding the boat itself were very similar to those of an airport, right down to eager tourists perusing the tax-free offerings at the store.

And speaking of tourists, both they and the staff were largely Korean. Masanuki said it felt a little like he had already arrived in Korea, and then added, “Yay! 사랑해요” (“I love you”).

There are two ships that travel between Shimonoseki and Busan: the Japanese Hamayu ferry and the Korean ferry, the Seong Hee, which Masanuki would be riding. He couldn’t lie; he was way more excited at the prospect of riding the ferry from another country.

Masanuki stowed his baggage in the allotted cabin and set about exploring the ferry. His excitement was rewarded almost immediately: a Korean convenience store, right on the ship!

He was extra delighted to see a sign explaining that the store accepted both Japanese yen and Korean won!

▼ Vending machines also accept Japanese coin; a beer costs just 200 yen!

He was even more pleased to find a whole host of other entertainment services on the ferry. There was a public bath that stayed open until 10:30 p.m., karaoke and even a little arcade.

The ferry’s restaurant was also a pleasant surprise. It offered such delights as a Korean miso jjigae set meal or kimchi jjigae set meal, both for 900 yen apiece, or a bulgogi set meal for 1,200 yen. Masanuki decided to dine here for the night.

Upon asking the staff what they recommended, considering Masanuki wasn’t in the mood for spice, they directed him towards the miso jjigae set meal. (Jjigae means soup, by the way, so it was essentially a Korean miso soup).

▼ Loaded with tofu, potatoes, eggplant and sugared beets, it was a soup meal fit for a king

▼ Plentiful ingredients abound in the soup, all of them welcome

Masanuki enjoyed his feast and then took a dip in the public bath. Once he was clean and chilled out, he opted to buy a slightly classier beer than what was offered in the vending machines.

▼ Cass Fresh costs a smart 215 yen

He found it to have a mild, “adequate” flavor, but he was honestly just happy to be in a new place, drinking new beer, surrounded by new sights. Despite all this excitement, though, the gentle rocking of the boat on the waves was making him sleepy. It was 10 p.m….Time for bed!

When he came to his quarters he found a Japanese family already sleeping there, which was probably just as well: the whole ship had a “lights-out” policy once it hit 10:30 p.m., so Masanuki settled down on his own futon, hoping the rocking waves wouldn’t keep him awake.

▼ Spoiler: They did not.

He awoke with a start at 5:30 a.m., just in time to catch the sunrise.

To his surprise, they were already docked in Busan, however, they couldn’t start immigration procedures until 8:00 a.m., when the immigration office opened. Disconcerting to think what might happen in the case of an emergency before then, if they had to evacuate… But best not to worry about that.

After a bath and a coffee, Masanuki was ready to tackle immigration – but he didn’t eat breakfast yet. No, he would eat that in Nampo-dong, Busan’s central shopping district. Thankfully, the weather was glorious and he was able to enter Korea without any hassle.

Indeed, Masanuki was feeling incredibly perky for a man who’d just crossed a sea to get here. Which was good, because he had just ten precious hours to make the most of Busan! To get back to Japan by 9:00 p.m. he would need to return to the ferry port by 6:00 p.m.

He strode to Busan Station at once, to purchase a 5,000 won (US$4.46) travel pass. This would cover as many train trips as he needed!

Oh, but he still hadn’t eaten yet. No worries – Kobongmin Gimbabin had him covered.

This chain specializes in gimbap, a delicious blend of cooked rice and other ingredients rolled in dried seaweed: not entirely dissimilar to Japanese norimaki. Masanuki purchased a fine breakfast of gimbap and tteok-bokki (stir-fried, spicy rice cakes) to the tune of 6,500 won. There was so much food he had to ask the staff to wrap up his leftovers!

▼ Each bite of gimbap sang with seven or eight tasty flavors, with burdock a standout

▼ Masanuki enjoyed mixing the tteok-bokki sauce with his gimbap, too

Breakfast sorted! That left a big chunk of time to take in the local sights. His main destination was to be Gamcheon Culture Village, often nicknamed the “Korean Machu Picchu”. From Toseong Station, he took a taxi up the mountain path for about seven or eight minutes and arrived at the village’s entrance.

Built by refugees from North Korea in the 1950s, the village received government funding as part of the “Dreaming of Machu Picchu in Busan” project; the locals painted their houses vibrant colors and brightened the entire surrounding landscape.

▼ The area is now an artistic hot spot

You might think such vivid beauty would be the ultimate highlight of Masanuki’s journey, and it was… But there was just one other thing that stacked up alongside it. He was determined to eat some genuine Korean dwaejigalbi (Korean BBQ pork). And boy, did he ever go to the right place!

▼ Chammat Sutbul Wang Galbi is a locally renowned restaurant rather than tourist bait

The restaurant was featured in a TV show with fashion star presenter IKKO-san, who declared that “customers can eat as much as their heart desires here”! Masanuki, unlike IKKO-san, was unable to talk to the chef in Korean, and didn’t fare much better with Japanese or English either. However, when he requested “IKKO Menu!” his order was understood! Enough dwaejigalbi was plated up to serve three people! Perfect!

▼ Masanuki enjoyed his barbecued pork with plenty of tare sauce and an onion salad.

The pork was soaked in the restaurant’s home-made garlic and soy sauce tare, then sliced up into ribbons with scissors once it emerged from the grill. Masanuki took a bite… Mmmmmm! Absolutely delicious! So tasty that three servings couldn’t fully satisfy him!

▼ Soft, chewy and delectable, this barbecue pork is unlike any other.

And guess what? Like the ticket to Busan itself, this glorious meal was mega cheap! A three-course meal like the one Masanuki enjoyed only cost 8,000 won (US$7.14). It took around 30 minutes to walk there from the subway’s Gwangan Station, but the route went alongside the shore and was so pleasant he arrived before he even knew to check the time.

With both belly and heart full, Masanuki returned to central Busan by way of Seonmyeon Station. Here he bought a large quantity of Korean seaweed from the underground department store – much more than he might have bought had it not been for the very enthusiastic saleswoman. At least they would make good souvenirs…

It was drawing close to 6:00 p.m., which meant time for filling out his return paperwork and boarding a ship bound for his home harbor of Shimonoseki. To be honest, Masanuki felt a little sentimental about leaving Korea behind, having spent just ten hours there. So he was overjoyed to see his old friend the Seong Hee waiting in the port to take him home. Even if just for a little while, he could feel like he was still in Korea!

As he left Busan, it lit up in a chorus of gorgeous lights and colors. Most spectacular was the Gwangandaegyo Bridge, also known as the “rainbow” bridge. You can see why:

While the cruise on the ferry takes much longer than an airplane flight, you can relax and enjoy the entertainments on board so in Masanuki’s opinion it’s well worth the time investment.

This kind of getaway is perfect for a three-day vacation, so for example if you have the following Monday off from work you could set off for Busan on Saturday morning and return by the following Monday morning. It’s the perfect excuse to make use of the already generous Seishun 18 offer!

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